Siliconcape Job Board

After such a great launch event in Cape Town it seems that the initiative has gotten legs and is in the starting blocks - well done to all involved.

Alot of the SA techies have moved overseas (myself included) and would always love the opportunity to return, this initiative is more than likely going to be a catalyst for that to happen and the one thing that this portal could offer is a jobboard for locals as well as expats who have transferable experience to be found and employed both in SA as well overseas.

What I propose is to have a dedicated job portal within this forum for all business to advertise jobs (free of course) which will help showcase this talent pool locally and overseas.

Managed by the people for the people is what I say :-)

I really think this would help everyone understand what roles are on the rise and what IT sectors need to be worked on and invested in.

Replies to This Discussion

Much like any business you get those with tact, ethics and more importantly brains. Personally I dont waste my time flogging company profiles to peoples inboxes in the hopes that we'll pick up work. I'm intelligent enough to know how to broach the client and to also udnerstand that I'm not the first to try. I certainyl would not call offering my services unless I was d*** sure that I was able to fill the need. I personally pride myself on my accuracy and professionalism at all times so I'd be shooting myself in the foot by using the board as a way to get business without using any savvy or tact.

Respect is earned in any industry. I like to think if people know who I am and what I do - they'll be calling me first before placing that ad because they know I really do save them money in the long run. It's the candidates / talent pool I'd like access to.

It sounds like you are the type of recruiter I'd want to deal with! :-) Will remember to contact you when I need your services and will definitely recommend you as I like the way you think! I wish all recruiters thought this way.

Unfortunately your average recruiter isn't the owner of the business, so very often they tend not to think of the implications of 'hassling / harrassing' a potential client. In essence all businesses that succeed run on commitment, responsibility and more importantly inspiration. When a person is operating from a point of of absolute motivation it somehow brings a magic something to the equation.

I get REALLY annoyed when no renumeration is mentioned in ads. People perspective of market related are never on par. Why waste my time in applying to something, tell me if we speaking the same language, I apply, if I am not good for what you paying, then at least my time hasnt been wasted. I remember starting out, I had to apply for a position, went for aptitude tests, technical tests, team fit, etc. Only to be offered a pittence. What a waste of time. The process is designed to get the best canidate for the cheapest price, even if it means underpaying by an unethical amount.

Also I need to say that recruiters (at least in my part of the world here in KZN) have damaged the process. A recruiter cannot find a best fit, if they dont know the industry they pitching at. Where I work now we have had some SERIOUS potential been passed over by recruiters who cannot adequately assess potential based on a CV. There is too much tacit knowledge these days and the industry moves too fast to rate someone on the techs they know. We need people who are fast learners, and can migrate their "skills" to different platforms. We arent all accountants who if you posses skills X, Y and Z then we pay you A. We learn the tools for the job on the fly, and need people who possess this skill. Recruiters cannot assess this unless they themselves have worked in the industry. If I am looking for Java devs and a .NET person comes to me that has done some amazing stuff, I am going to offer him the job, cause I know the platforms are technologically very similar and the learning curve wont be that big. A recruiter cant make these association and probably wont even refer the canidate.

Years of experience is another one. If I stumble accross a genius, I want to grab this person and retain them. Offer them a fat salary. But no, as far as recruiters are concerned, if you dont fit the numbers, you dont get the nod. This has happened to me personally, my salary has gone up 800% in 4 years, yet I am doing less now than I initially was. Why did I have to wait for 4 years?

We have formed out own internal "recruitment agency" now to address this. Test peoples problem solving ability and approach. Dont just look at their CV, but their interests in life too, if a canidate is applying for a reception job, but practices robotic engineering as a hobby, I want to know about it.
Artists that understand advanced maths topics make unbelievable developers.

And it works like a charm. We also award finders fees to employees who's referrals make the grade and stay with the company for more than 6 months.

To add to the discussion regarding recruitment agencies........ sourcing and screening in order to present suitable candidates to a client are basic skills that any recruiter should have. If a recruiter has difficulty doing these then you as an employer should not be dealing with them.

In the current market for IT skills I believe that most firms will have difficulty securing the talent that they need for their business if they do not use a good recruitment agency. Generally, a good developer with an in demand skill set wont have 1or 2 offers of employment, they will have 5 or 6. If you are using a recruiter and they have done their job properly, the candidate should be making the decision to join your firm. This will be becuase the recruiter will have effectively marketed the position and your company to the candidate, and also handled any objections that they may have.

Another advantage of using recruiters is that often we will deal with a number of similar positions simultaneously and thus will have a good overview of the pool of available candidates. These candidates may not necesarily be aware of your firm or see your vacancies advertised. As a result, using a recruiter in a market where there are limited numbers of skilled individuals available should increase the number of suitable candidates that you are able to choose from.

A local online job portal (that gets it right) sounds like a good idea provided companies start putting there money where their mouths are. I know of a fair number of local developers that would love to become involved with exciting startups by moving out of the corporate and dead-end oldskool digital design studios, even if it means a pay cut. Unfortunately, in general, salaries seem to be very low though, so we are facing a problem for our skilled guys. I far too often see ads calling for "senior engineers" with "3- 5" years experience. Sorry dudes, that's not senior, consequently the salary expectations are equally low. I see this lowballing of skills and salaries as our biggest challenge over the next few years.

I slave every day am happily employed by a recruitment company specialising in IT placements. We know that small and startup companies need good great staff (or they'll never get off the ground), but lack the budget to source them through the traditional recruitment model (ie 15+% of annual salary).

Having run a small development shop myself, I know what a *(&@#$& great hole dent a placement fee makes in your working capital, so we have been working on a model where our clients do some of the work and as a result, get access to a full recruitment service, but for a fraction of the cost. Here we are talking placing ads on the major job boards, candidate searches, alerts (ie you get mailed when some with a keyword in their CV amends or adds their details) and everything else a recruitment agency does.

I would be very interested to get some feedback on the concept from any small / startuppers out there.